Rotary switch



July 24, 1956 Filed Jan. 19, 1953 J. W. BITLER ROTARY SWITCH 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

JOHN W. BITLER ATTORNEYS J. W. BITLER ROTARY SWITCH July 24, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 19, 1953 INVENTOR.

JOHN w. BITLER BY 7 g,, 7Q4 m' ATTORNEYS United States Patent ROTARY SWITCH John W. Bitler, Minster, Ohio, assignor to The Minster Machine Company, Minster, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 19, 1953, Serial No. 331,836

4 Claims. (Cl. 200-25) This invention relates to switch arrangements, particularly to rotary switch arrangements and to construetions thereof which facilitate the adjustment of the switches. I

The switch, according to this invention, is a rotary switch arrangement adapted for making and breaking contacts by the sliding action which obtains when a slip ring or segmented ring is rotated while in contact with a brush. Switches of this nature are employed to obtain high speed operation and to provide a switch structure which will have extremely long life and also one in which the instants of making and breaking contacts, thereby closing and opening circuits can be adjusted to within very close limits.

In my issued patent of August 29, 1950, U. S. Patent 2,520,709, assigned to the same assignees as the instant application, I show a rotary electrical control switch in which rings are provided that rotate in a frame in which brushes are mounted that bear on the rings and the duration of the make and break periods of the switch is adjustable by means of relatively adjusting the rings of the switch on the supporting shaft therefor. The arrangement illustrated in this patent is satisfactory for the purpose of making and breaking an electrical circuit and the advantage obtains in that the switch has extremely long life and is capable of operation at high speeds. However, it is time consuming to effect adjustment of the make and break period by turning the rings on the shaft and furthermore the switch must be stopped in order to accomplish this adjustment and no precise observation of the effects of such an adjustment can be made until after the device being controlled by the switch has been restored to operation, and at which time the switch is, of course, again in operation and cannot further be adjusted.

Having the foregoing in mind it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a rotary control switch structure in which the drawbacks referred to above are eliminated.

A particular object is the provision of a rotary control switch of the nature referred to which can be adjusted while in operation.

A still further object is the provision of a rotary control switch which can be very precisely adjusted toobtain an exact relationship between the make and break periods and in which the instants of opening and closing the circuits can be very precisely determined and adjusted.

In brief, the several objects referred to above and still other objectives which will become more apparent hereinafter are obtained by mounting a plurality of rings on a shaft and which rings have an outer surface engaged by a collector brush and with the outer surfaces being formed partly of conductive material and partly of electrical insulating material. The brushes bearing on the rings are supported in brush pockets and the pockets are mounted on rings which are angularly adjustable about the shaft of the switch. Suitable means are provided for locking the brush pocket supporting rings in position in the frame of the device so that the brush pocket supporting rings can be moved during operation of the switch to any desired point and locked in that position.

The objects referred to above and still further objects become more apparent upon reference to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a control switch according to my invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse section indicated by line 2-2 on Figure;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view looking in from the right end of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view similar to Figure 2 but showing a modified construction;

Figure 5 is a sectional view indicated by line 5-5 on Figure 4 showing details of construction thereof; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view through a brush pocket.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, Figures 1 through 3 construction comprises a frame 10 having spaced end portions 12 and 14 adapted for receiving bearings, such as the ball bearing 16 in end portion 14 which rotatably supports shaft 18 having an integral collar 19 in the middle. Shaft 18 supports a plurality of pairs of rin s 20 and which pairs are spaced apart by insulating spacing collars 22 with all of the said rings being firmly clamped in position on shaft 18 by the clamping nuts 24 at opposite ends thereof. Insulating sleeves 25 are disposed about shaft 18 and absolutely electrically isolate the shaft from the conductive segments carried by the rings.

The outer peripheries of the rings 29 are advantageously formed with a dovetail groove 26 adapted for detachably receiving segments 28, some of which are of insulating material and others of which are electrically conductive.

A brush 30 is provided bearing on the outer surface of the segments carried by each ring, and it will, of course, be understood that the said segments of each ring present a complete annular surface on which the brush 30 pertaining thereto continuously bears.

As will be seen in Figure 6, each brush 30 is respectively mounted in a brush pocket 32 and urged toward the segmented ring surface which it is to engage by a compression spring 34. A cap 36 retains each compression spring in position in its respective brush pocket and also provides means for effecting electrical connection between an electric lead 38 and the pertaining brush pocket.

Each brush pocket 32 is mounted in a block 49 of insulating material, and the blocks 40 are arranged on opposite sides of an annular supporting brush holder ring 42 and retained in position thereon by screws 44 extending through the blocks 40 and the brush ring.

As will be seen in Figure 2, each brush pocket supporting ring 42 engages grooves 46 provided in the front and back walls 48 of the frame of the switch so the said rings can be rotated in the frame while being supported therein in an accurately located position. A cover plate 49 may extend between the tops of the end walls and cornprises slots 51 through which the rings 42 extend.

Extending along the top of the switch and resting in notches in the upper ends of the end walls 12 and 14 is a bar 50 having notches for receiving the upper edge of each of the brush pocket supporting rings, and bar 50 also has clamp screws 52 therein in the planes of the said notches adapted for being clamped in position by nuts 54. The screws 52 provide means for locking the brush pocket supporting rings 42 in any selected position of adjustment thereof.

Referring again to Figure 1, one manner of utilizing the switch construction of the present invention would be to insert two pairs of the rotatable rings in series in a circuit which could be done by opening one line of the citcuit and connecting one end of the line to one of the brush pocket lead-in wires as at 69 and the other thereof to the brush pocket lead-in wire at 62 while connecting the other two lead-in wires for the other two associated brush pockets together. The flow of current would then be from one of the outer brushes into the conductive segment of the pertaining ring, then to the conductive ment of the next adjacent ring, thence to the pertaining inner brush, and then through the other inner brush of the other pair of rings into the conductive segment of the adjacent inner ring, then to the conductive segment of the adjacent outer ring, and through the other outer brush to the circuit.

The duration of the time that the circuit would be closed would be determined by the length of time that all of the conductive segments of the several rings were engaged by the several brushes. Whenever any one of the nonconductive segments of the rings moved beneath the per taining brush, the circuit would be broken and would not again be established until all of the brushes were again bearing on conductive segments.

It will be evident that the duration of the make and break periods could readily be adjusted, and to a very precise degree during operation of the switch merely by loosening one or both of the clamp screws 52 and adjus ing the brush pocket supporting rings 42 relative to each other.

Another manner of utilizing the control switch would be to have each pair of rings controlling a single .rcuit, in which case a predetermined and fixed relationship would exist between the make and break periods for each circuit once the rings pertaining thereto had been at gularly adjusted on shaft 18. However, the relationship between the make and break periods for the different circuits could be adjusted by adjusting the rings 42 relatively. In this manner it is possible with the switch, according to the present invention, to control not only the duration of any make or break period, but also to adjust these corresponding periods for different circuits relatively and with all adjustments being made while the switch is in operation at any speed.

Turning now to Figures 4 and 5 there is illustrated a switch structure substantially identical in many respects with that already described and in which respects cor responding reference numerals are supplied with the addition of subscript a. In Figures 4 and 5 the segmented rings of the brush pocket supporting rings are mod in construction so that the segmented rings, indicated at 70 constitute one single ring extending beneath both of the brushes 72. The brushes 72 are supported in brush pocket 74 which corresponds to brush pockets 32. referred to in the previous modification and these brush pockets are mounted in blocks 76 with each block 76 being'added to its own individual brush pocket supporting ring 73. The rings 78 lie in face-to-face engagement and are rotatable about the axis of drive shaft 18:; by being supported in slots in the same manner as has been described in connection with the first modification.

The clamp screw 52 is arranged to be effective for clamping both of the brush pocket supporting rings 1'3 in adjusted position.

From the description of the Figures 4 and 5 construction it will be apparent that individual adjustment of the angular position of the brushes '72 can be had whereby the duration of the period that they are both engaging the conductive segment 80 can be controlled thereby controlling the duration of the make period of the switch.

The Figures 4 and 5 construction, by utilizing a plurality of the segmented rings 70, presents the same advantages as the first modification described with respect to adjusting the make periods of individual circuits relative to 4 each other. This could be accomplished merely by adjusting the two rings 78 that are adjacent each other in unison relative to the two rings '78 that are associated with another of the segmented rings 70.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions and accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

l claim:

A rotary control switch of the nature described comprrslng; a frame, a shaft rotatably supported in said frame, a plurality of rings mounted on said shaft in spaced relation, each said rings having a current concting segment mounted in a portion of its periphery, a ccsr the periphery of each said ring, a holder for each brush, and a supporting ring for each holder :notu'tted in said frame for angular adjustment circumferentially about the axis of said shaft, at least a portion said supporting ring being coplanar with its respective current conduct segment, and means for clamping each supporting ring in any predetermined position of adjustment.

2. In a rotary control switch, a frame, a shaft rotatably mounted in said frame, a plurality of rings mounted on said shaft in spaced relation and each said ring comprising a conductive segment extending about a portion of its periphery and flush with said periphery, the width of said conductive segment being co-extensive with the width of said ring, a brush bearing on the periphery of each ring, a brush pocket for each said brush, an annular supporting ring supporting each brush pocket and mounted in said frame for angular adjustment circumferentially about the axis of said shaft, said ring being wider than its cooperating supporting ring and at least a portion of said supporting ring being coplanar therewith, and means for clamping each said supporting ring in said frame.

3. In a control switch of the nature described; a frame comprising front and back side Walls and end walls, a shaft extending between and journaled in said end Walls,

plurality of rings mounted on said shaft in spaced relation, each said ring comprising at least one conductive segment flush mounted in the periphery thereof, and at least one brush bearing on the periphery of each said ring, a brush pocket for each said brush, an individual supporting ring for each said brush pocket, a co-pianar notch means formed in said side walls for receiving the edge of each said supporting ring peripherally for angular adjustment of the said ring about the axis of said shaft, a bar extending across the tops of said end walls and having notch means therein receiving the edges of said rings, and clamp screws extending through said bar for engagement with said supporting rings for clamping them in any predetermined position of angular adjustment in said frame.

4. in combination; in a rotary control switch having a frame and rings rotatable therein having conductive segments flush mounted in the peripheries thereof, said frame being formed with a plurality of circumferentially spaced coplanar notch means in the plane of each said ring, brush supporting rings mounted in said frame having their edge portions disposed in said notch means, each said supporting ring supporting a brush bearing on the periphery of the adjacent rotatable ring, and means for locking said supporting rings in any predetermined position of adjustment in said frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l,l83,i96 Heany May 16, l9l6 1,293,266 Reeves Oct. 31, 1916 2,353,014 Da Roza et al. July 4, 1944 2,520,709 Bitler Aug. 29, 1950 2,686,286 Owen Aug. 10, 1954 

